Heart Transplant UK seeks donors in Valentine's Day campaign

Website lets people send personalized e-card to announce they are heart donors

LONDON — Heart Transplant UK is encouraging people to register on the heart donor list as part of its Valentine's Day campaign.

"Give your heart this Valentine’s Day" by Dare also aims to find a heart for Stacie Pridden, who has been diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension.

The campaign asks people to sign up as heart donors through www.giveyourheart.co.ukwhere they can create a personalized e-card, featuring a picutre of a heart, and share it online while also registering as a donor.

Dare has also produced an online film directing people to the website. The spot shows Pridden filming a video on her laptop of herself asking for someone to give her a heart. The camera then pans out and Pridden is out of breath and hooks herself up to a medical machine to help her breathe.

The work was created by Chloe Pope and Jessica Morris, and was directed by James Strong through Dark Energy Films.

According to Heart Transplant UK, there are 265 people waiting for a heart transplant in this country. Last year there were 145 heart transplants in the UK. Only eight out of 10 people receive the transplant they need and Pridden may have just three months to receive a successful transplant.

John Fisher, chief executive at Heart Transplant UK, said: "Around 1,000 people die every year — that’s three people every day — waiting for an organ donation.

"The campaign has been launched to help sign people on to the donor register. Nine out of 10 people support organ donation, but only three out of ten sign up.

"Giving your heart this Valentine’s Day takes a whole new meaning when you could be giving someone life."